The Angel of Konoha
by xenus
Summary: "Either you die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain." Because the end always justifies the means, and because at a young age, Uzumaki Naruto, the little devil of Konoha, is somehow more dangerous than anyone can afford to leave alone. Slow buildup. Will be lengthy.
1. Enter, Uzumaki Naruto

_**The Angel of Konoha**_

**Chapter One:** Enter, Uzumaki Naruto

The evening descended like the pillow soft wave of a downy sheet over Fire Country. This was October ninth, and the leaf village's residents had some time ago finished up last minute preparations for their annual memorial for their fallen heroes tomorrow. Some years ago, calamity struck their village in the form of the nine-tailed fox; its tails sweeping apart the forests and its breath scalding like the sweltering blister of a volcano. But their leader—the Hokage-stopped it by sealing it within the then infant Uzumaki Naruto who became its ultimate prison.

When the sun fell against the horizon and dipped under to blanket the sky in indigo and navy, the now six year-old Naruto felt his breath leave his lungs in awe and wonder. He was always fascinated by the sunset and how it hushed the bustling village in the distance. Konoha was a massive village spanning several thousand acres of real estate, divided into rings and subdivisions.

Young Naruto's humble abode was a few miles away from the great village's center, but he could see it coming to life against the night. His apartment was small, military-owned and managed, granted to him as a ward of Konoha since no family seemed to want to take him in. Not that Naruto minded anyway. He'd always been alone, but at least now the kids in the orphanage couldn't make fun of him. Or call him 'youma' like the adults did when they thought he wasn't listening.

The residence was usually quiet during the day, but it _was_ in the middle of the _Akaseno_, so the real raucous action didn't start until the sun went down. Festivities that the Hokage had made sure to tell Naruto he was "Far too young to take part in". Just a block away from his apartment, the heart of the Akaseno was coming to life with the sounds of heavy music, happy voices and flashing neon lights that danced this way and that, battling with the last vestiges of daylight.

Snapping out of the trance the lights and music lulled him into, Naruto went back through his evening stretches. He would be starting his new life tomorrow morning, and the Hokage _did_ say it was good to keep the muscles limber by stretching often. Having overlooked his past juvenile indiscretions to give him a chance at becoming a _ninja_ was more than the boy could dream, and he didn't want to spoil it by not taking the venerated leader's advice.

Around set twelve of his exercise, he could start making out stars in the night sky. He stopped for a breather and rolled over in his bed, barely making out the calendar on his wall with the days crossed off with a red marker and tomorrow's date circled in blue. Briefly glancing at the shadows that fell over the empty ramen cups littering his floor with a child's smile, he eventually drifted off.

He dreamt of noodles, of rice cakes and rivers of ramen soup.

And then morning dawned just atop the trees, bathing the horizon in a warm orange glow.

A sharp bark echoed outside his bedside window. Naruto didn't jolt awake; rather, his eyes slid open to the now soothing music and gentle voices further down the block. A morning scowl crossed his bleary features briefly as he rolled off his bed and stumbled along the darkness of his apartment to the bathroom.

_Six A.M._

A lone kunai hung by a string on the back of the door, swaying from side to side. Even at first glance the kunai had a strange appearance. This kunai had three blades, and a piece of paper with odd writings wrapped around a red handle; a gift from the Hokage for Naruto's surprisingly easy entry into the academy, two full years earlier than most children could boast. The Hokage _did_ say that he was going to be the youngest to enter the academy in several years.

The toilet flushed with an errant sound and Naruto stood to face his mirror, mentally checking through the routine the caretaker had put him through the week before when he had been placed here. She was only around for three days, but already the information was lodged deep inside his mind. Not many people took the time to teach him, other than the Hokage, and certainly not the caregivers at the orphanage, so he made sure to commit her every word to memory as best he could.

"Best start when you're young." She'd said and he repeated, doing his best to imitate the old, gingerly arthritic woman, with a sly little grin.

A few minutes later he walked out of his bathroom, dressed with clothes he'd laid out on the counter the night before, feeling refreshed and more awake than when he went in. His cupboards were not bare, but there were cups of ramen which he adored, so he filled three with water and put them one by one in his microwave until they were all done.

In the meantime Naruto went over the pre-academy pamphlets, which were—unbeknownst to him—woefully out of date, trying to memorize the information about what kunai, shuriken, and jutsu were. This was of course made easier by the pictures and diagrams on the pages.

After eating his breakfast, he grabbed his keys and headed out the door, sparing his new apartment one last happy smile before departing, assured that his first day was already off to a pleasant start.

* * *

Hiruzen let the image in his crystal ball fade, and with it the light which plunged his office back into the dark. He'd been considering the ramifications of letting Naruto attend the academy this early, and thus far none of the problems he'd anticipated were coming up. It was at least a month since the council meeting and no one had approached him about it, which left him a bit disturbed by how simple it all was. In fact, looking a little closer at how withdrawn his colleagues were that morning, the whole affair was peculiar.

Though he couldn't argue with the results, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind, and Hiruzen learned a long time ago to follow that instinct. Like a disturbance on the surface of a pond, Hiruzen felt the ripple of his visitor's chakra a few moments before the knock came at the door.

"You may enter."

"Sensei." said a deep voice, very curt and short. Inside stepped a very tall younger man with long, bleach white hair, yet looking very much as if he'd been rolling around in dirt for some time. His brow was beaded with sweat, his face drawn and haggard as if he had sprinted here.

"Jiraiya-kun, what brings you here?"

"Oh, this and that." The man called Jiraiya intoned dismissively, waving his hand. He slumped his shoulders, rolling the large three foot scroll off his back and leaning it against an adjacent wall. "How're things on the home front, sensei?" he said, taking a comfortable seat on the arm chair next to the window.

"As well as can be expected with my advisers and other interested parties vying for position behind my back."

All at once Jiraiya felt a rush of relief and concern. Relief that he didn't ever decide to become Hokage, and worry over his sensei. The man was far too old for this these days. "Politics," The toad sage grunted, adjusting his posture. "Never been a fan, myself."

"So you say. Under most circumstances I would probably be fine, but the old _hawk_ has been running me ragged these past few weeks."

"Trouble with _Ne_?" Jiraiya peeked at him out the corner of his eye as he rubbed his sore calves.

"You could say that." Sarutobi sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. "They've been getting closer to some dangerous assets that I don't want him near. I have _some_ leeway with stopping it, but I can't do everything."

"Assets such as . . . ?"

Hiruzen's eyes snapped open tiredly. "Well Uzumaki Naruto, for one." He didn't miss the way his student's eyes narrowed and his back straightened. "He wants me to turn the child over to him for specialized training. He doesn't have many followers considering how much they fear _it_ escaping but he's swaying them. Slowly but surely. And I have no idea how."

"He can't have Naruto." said Jiraiya firmly.

"That may not be up to us. Last month one of his agents got too close, and started talking to the boy. One of mine reported it to me, and I took action. I enrolled him in the academy."

Jiraiya stared at him. "Yeah, two years early. I knew something was up when I heard, and now I'm here."

"You surprised me. I thought your network was your love child."

Jiraiya chuckled. "When you live this long in this profession, and you lose more than you thought you would, a love child is the last thing on your mind, sensei."

Hiruzen gave him a pitying look, touched with disappointment. "You've had it rough lately, I'll give you that. But the past is past. All we can do is move forward with purpose." Pausing when Jiraiya looked away, his expression slackened. If he could go back and tell his past self that it would not be Orochimaru that would become his confidant but _Jiraiya_ . . .

"How is the kid?"

A strained sigh followed.

"Lonely. Trying anything and _everything_ to make friends. The adults pretend he doesn't exist, or keep their children away from him like he's diseased."

Jiraiya scowled. "Well you should never have told anyone what happened that night."

"What would you have had me do? Lie?"

"_Yes_!" said Jiraiya, his voice raised a bit, dark eyes glinting like a blade of a polished kunai.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had never looked so old.

So _tired_.

"Maybe I should have." he admitted.

"What's past is past, sensei." Jiraiya relented with a grunt.

Hiruzen nodded absently. "He wants to be Hokage, you know."

"Who doesn't?" snorted Jiraiya.

"Indeed. However..." he trailed off, unsure of how to tell Jiraiya what he wanted to.

The toad hermit raised a brow. "However, what?"

Hiruzen sighed, sliding his hands over his face and rubbing his eyes. "There was another reason I enrolled Naruto early. and _not_ just because of the old hawk."

"The kid's _not_ a genius," Jiraiya deadpanned with a snort. "I've seen the his school records."

Shaking his head, Hiruzen interlaced his fingers behind his head, elbows on the desk. "That still remains to be seen. Many of us do not achieve greatness until we mature. Nevertheless, it appears that he has a knack for the surprising everyone, and somehow managed to get into a scuffle with some other boys last month."

"Kids fight." he shrugged in nonchalance.

"Not like Naruto." Hiruzen rumbled gently, almost absently. Like he was remembering someone else who...

Jiraiya perked up, interested. "Meaning...?"

"_Meaning_, Naruto fought genin. _Three_ of them."

"No way." Jiraiya breathed in exultation.

Hiruzen slid one of the files on his desk over to Jiraiya. The man rifled through the pages in new interest, a wry grin on his face. "Apparently he was able to fight them to a standstill."

"Any idea what caused the fight?"

"Naruto can be... overzealous and hyperactive when-."

"Like Kushina." Jiraiya finished for him, still smiling. The genin weren't hurt _too_ badly, but though there wouldn't be any visible, lasting scars, surely their pride would be wounded for some time. "The kid's a natural, just like Minato."

Hiruzen cleared his throat, nodding. "Perhaps in some ways, though his temperament is more like his mother." he said, shivering a bit when he remembered how she'd ensnared Minato. The poor boy never stood a chance. "I figured it would be prudent to focus that aggression properly."

Jiraiya frowned when he happened upon something in the file. "His medical records say he didn't get a single scratch? He's _that_ good?"

"Unlikely." Hiruzen denied. "He's had no formal training unless you count watching a few chuunin run drills 'training'."

"It can be." If he was a visual learner in some sense. It wasn't likely; the boy was probably a more kinesthetic learner like his mother, but perhaps he'd picked up some visual ability from his father? Jiraiya put the file down and closed it. "Anything else?"

"I was going to attend Naruto-kun's inauguration this morning. He doesn't have anyone else to go, and it would do some good for him to have some support today."

Though unsaid, the invitation was nonetheless clear. "What are we waiting here for?"

* * *

The day started off with a chill. The skies were cold and gray, and there was a subtle scent of freshly fallen leaves in the air. The precarious echo of thunder rumbled above. Training and recess areas outside the schools-the academy included-were probably deserted, and teachers would still be teaching their lessons despite the hard wind.

Naruto walked on, spinning the kunai in his hand along the loop to get used to the weight. It came in the kit given to him for orientation, and he spent the better part of a week learning how to handle it without nicking his fingers. As usual his gaze was pointed high in the sky, watching the approaching storm that, in Hi no Kuni, usually lasted several days or more at a time. The humidity of the fire country sometimes created irregular storms on harsh early mornings such as this.

The streets were still sparse when he sauntered through the marketplace. The world seemed to move in slow motion when he passed by mirrors with his reflection staring back at him with half-broken smiles like the remnants of a dream he had yet to awaken from. Most of the shops were empty and felt empty as well, but it was still early.

Down the street, his eyes happened upon a two-story building standing on its last legs on the corner of two connected blocks, presenting a tall, imposing front.

_'__The orphanage.'_

His memories replayed some of his worst nightmares in that place. Surely his caretakers in there hadn't noticed his absence the past month, and would likely delight in his lack of presence. Their cantankerous, nasally voices echoed in the hollows of his mind, repeating like the dissonant till of cackling hyenas over and over again.

The front door opened, and children began to come out one after another. Some grouped together and some walked alone, but none of them ever looked his way. He was truly invisible to them; their ghost and watcher. It was only twenty minutes into his walk that it began to drizzle again.

Naruto heaved a sigh and ducked into one of the cafés on the corner, away from the tumultuous wind and the light rain. Inside it was warm and cozy, small like a quaint cottage hidden away from the main road. It was quiet save for the sounds of the coffee machines and the few scattered murmurs from a couple of the civilians present. Naruto sat in one of the booths and looked out the window up at the sky. Bathed in hues of orange against grey clouds, even the sun had a spectacular beauty that captured his interest.

"What'll ya have?" the waitress that suddenly appeared said, looking bleary-eyed and tired.

Naruto blinked up at her, expecting some kind of frown to form on her face, but it seemed that for the moment, she didn't recognize him. "Tea?"

The girl sauntered away with a brief nod and disappeared in the back. It was fortunate that Naruto had some money. Being in an orphanage he rarely ventured far from it, so he never spent the weekly stipends, and the yearly birthday money the Hokage saw fit to appease him with he didn't spend much of either. He never had to worry often about going hungry, at least. Considering the nasty weather though, he was probably due for a new, clean coat.

Pushing the thought of his former life to the back of his mind, Naruto ignored the pestering reminder of his the early hour with what was now practiced ease. He was happy enough to be able to pursue his dream, with no longer the distraction of civilian schooling to deter him. He needed to find some way of thanking the kind old Hokage for his support.

The waitress came back with his hot tea and a carefully neutral smile playing at her lips. The look she gave him however, was indifferent. Any optimism he might have had about her being a benevolent teenage girl immediately wilted in the face of her dispassionate gaze. Once again he was left alone to people watch as he sipped his tea. Either no one in the café noticed he was there yet, or they were doing a very fine job of pretending they didn't. At any rate, he certainly wouldn't let it ruin his mood.

He kept watch of the sky outside as the second storm unfolded. It rolled over the far mountains beyond the Hokage monument and crept across the forests surrounding Konoha until it stumbled against the nearby rooftops. He let his mind take him to another place and another time. His imagination ran wild as he thought about the founding of Konoha and the Hokage, momentum granted by the required reading for orientation. It made sense to make a village out here. Hidden in the deep forest, the hidden leaf was a difficult village to find for any foreign interlopers. Though he had to wonder about the many _N__ukenin_ that Konoha produced that perhaps may have sold secrets to neighboring villages. He wondered briefly, if he would be suited for the Hunter Nin profession. Could he slay traitors for the good of the village? That morbid thought gave way to a new train of thought. One he hoped he wouldn't have to think about for some time.

He shook his head to dispel the dour thoughts and glanced at the clock on the wall. _Seven-thirty already? __This place is really nice, I almost forgot what I was doing. But I should get going._ Naruto let out a mild sigh and stood up, exiting the cafe in a dash and leaving money with a hefty tip on the table.

Naruto made it to the academy grounds and bent over, hands on his knees, his breathing harsh and ragged. Having run so far, so fast was a new experience.

The academy wasn't grandiose or imposing. But to a six year-old boy with big dreams, it was a towering red beacon that symbolized the first step toward his dreams.

Down the street, the tenuous sound of approaching footsteps echoed off the walls. Up above, the sky split in two, and a beam of sunlight lit the symbol of fire emblazoned on a rune atop the tower. A few seconds later, the voices accompanying the footsteps came closer, with parents and children filing through the opening in the school's high concrete archway. They lined up alongside one another, and though Naruto felt a pang of jealousy seeing his soon-to-be peers happy with their parents, he knew one day the whole village would look up to him as their leader, just like the previous Hokage.

"They're starting, shouldn't you get going, Naruto?"

Startled out of his reverie by a voice beside him, Naruto whipped around eyes wide. Standing there was the wizened Sandaime Hokage, arms folded loosely in his robes with an amused smile. Beside him was a man Naruto didn't recognize. "Saru-jiji! What are you doing here?" asked Naruto, mentally berating himself for not remembering to use the proper honorific.

"Can't a couple of old men come see you off on your first day?" he replied, ignoring Jiraiya's indignant whine with a smile at young Naruto.

Naruto's gaze widened even more. How could he really think he was so alone when he had such a kind old man looking out for him? He didn't have to come out, and by all means had piles of work to do. Something foreign clenched at his chest, and made hit difficult to draw a breath. The edges of his vision blurred and stung with what he knew were tears. He blinked them away harshly. No more tears, he reminded himself. "T-thanks Saru-jiji," he murmured with a little quiver to his voice. "it means a lot that you're here."

Jiraiya smiled faintly. His sensei was always pretty good with kids, and judging from the look in the boy's eyes, Sarutobi-sensei was the only friend he had. He had to shove aside the feeling of guilt that his godson didn't know him, and remember that what he was doing instead was more important to the boy's safety than Jiraiya's selfish desire to keep him.

"No matter how alone you feel, there are always people behind you, kid. Just remember to keep your eyes and mind open."

Naruto's blue eyes snapped to Jiraiya. "Thanks, but who are _you_?" he asked, squinting like he was trying to figure it out.

The toad sage grinned and went through his introduction, complete with summoning a toad and a very ridiculous dance. Hiruzen leaned down to Naruto to tell Naruto that he was formerly his student.

Naruto blinked.

"Well?" asked Jiraiya.

"You're a weird old man." Naruto said, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"What an offensive boy! That's no way to talk to someone as great as me!" he shouted, growling irritably when the boy turned around to look at the students walking toward the school.

Hiruzen, however, was over the moon with laughter. Leaning against the brick and mortar that held the gates up, he was the picture of ease. Had Naruto's presence done such wonders for the man's troubles?

Across the yard, teachers in chuunin vests were coming out of the building and directing the kids-some familiar and some not-to line up single-file.

Heaving a sigh, Naruto glanced back at them. "I guess it's time to go."

"Naruto." Hiruzen called. Whey Naruto's gaze met his, he nodded at the children in line. "Show us who Uzumaki Naruto is."

Naruto's face melted into a wry grin; there was finally some fire in his eyes. "You'd better believe I will, dattebayo!"

* * *

Chapter 2 will feature a time skip.

Next Chapter: Earth and Water_  
_

See you later.


	2. How to Lie 101

**_The Angel of Konoha_**

_"No, I did** not** kiss that bastard on purpose!"__  
_

_Uzumaki Naruto, Post-War Entry 883_

* * *

**Chapter Two:** How to Lie 101

**_Two Years_ Later.**

The sun rose over the treetops, bathing the village in a heady orange glow. Fresh dew on the grass glistened with raindrops the night before. The table in his kitchen was covered in scrolls, held down by shuriken. Empty ramen cups littered the floor where a few plants lay under the gentle 'drip, drip, drip' of the leaky roof.

Light streamed into the window of Naruto's apartment and landed on his face causing him to twitch out of the way and roll over onto the floor, blanket and all. Groaning, he blinked open his eyes, slightly groggy. The clock on his bedside table ready six thirty, which meant he had plenty of time to get to class.

It was spring time now, and the class he started with was graduating. They were four years his senior, but if he played his cards right he would be graduating this year or the next. The very thought excitedly got him out of the blankets. A cold wind blew in the window, urging him into the bathroom to shower.

He surprised everyone last year when he showcased his aptitude for hand-to-hand combat. Not that he was particularly gifted per se. Rather, he had a sort of knack for knowing how people were going to move, and reacting accordingly. He had the reflexes of someone who had been fighting their whole lives. They didn't need to know that that was true. The orphanage hadn't been kind to him, and fighting just came naturally to someone like him.

That didn't mean he didn't need to practice, but it felt good to know that his days of watching his back had paid off.

Today was the graduation ceremony for the genin in his class, and though he was too young to graduate himself, and he hadn't really gotten on very well with most of his class-many felt he was stepping on too many toes-he would attend anyway. Honestly, he was curious, and it would do him some good to know what waited for him at the end of this leg of his journey.

Naruto made it to class by seven thirty, a whole fifteen minutes early, and walked around back to the training field, where three large trees with targeting circles loomed high above the school. The Hokage had said that the Shodai made the massive trees he called world alphas, and they were supposed to be his eyes and ears when he was away from Konoha.

Sarutobi had, of course, never figured out how they worked.

As he made his way to one of the benches nearby and unrolled the container for his shuriken, other kids started appearing. He didn't recognize any of them, but some had parents with them. He felt a jealous pang of envy clench at his heart, but looked away and blanked his expression. _'No feeling sorry for myself. I've got plenty.'_ he told himself, not really believing it at all.

He fit two shuriken in each hand, between his small fingers and turned around. He wasn't very good at throwing them yet, despite two full years of instruction. Adjusting his wrist and flexing his arms, he let the ones in his dominant hand fly first. They both hit, one a few inches above the bullseye and the other higher up the tree. Naruto sighed and threw the others. But those two didn't land at all.

Naruto was naturally right-handed so his accuracy was better there, but real shinobi were ambidextrous, able to use both hands easily for any task. Judging by his display, he was a ways away from being a real ninja.

"You're holding 'em wrong."

Naruto blinked and turned around. Sitting on the bench fingering Naruto's kunai was a boy in fishnet with a ponytail. He didn't look particularly impressive; his eyes were thin, tired and dark. Sitting next to him was another rather portly boy who was eating out of a bag of beef jerky.

"How do you know?" Naruto quipped, looking decidedly skeptical about this kid knowing more than him as he went to gather up his shuriken. He was one of the people who arrived after him with his parents, so he had to be here for orientation.

"I just do." he replied with a shrug. Seeing Naruto's blank look, he sighed and stood up, shoving a hand into his pocket. He walked over, yawning sleepily and scratching the side of his face. "Here, lemme see one." he said, holding out his hand.

Naruto eyed the boy warily. He didn't know this kid at all! Who did he think he was coming out here and... he paused. A momentary lapse in thought gave him a second to rethink. Right. Naruto's gaze slid over to the adults, one of who watched him carefully out the corner of his eye; the one who arrived with the boy standing in front of him. In fact, they looked like carbon copies, except the man had a handful of scars on his face and this boy didn't.

A short glance around at the other kids arriving almost made him hit his forehead at his stupidity. He turned his gaze back to the other boy. "Orientation. You're here for the new year huh?"

"Yeah," he replied, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the older man. "that's my dad talking with the others. Mom said if we didn't get up early we couldn't have breakfast." he explained.

Naruto hadn't asked. "Um, okay?" He frowned a bit, and handed the shuriken over. Immediately, the four went flying and landed with hard thuds. Naruto looked, eyes wide. All four hit, not the bulls eye but close enough. "That's... how'd you do that?"

Another sigh. Naruto was left wondering if the boy was irritated or something. "I just _did it_. Are you new?"

"No," Naruto groused, now irritable himself. Why did everybody ask that? Did he _look_ like he was a newbie? He glanced down at himself. Brown cargo shorts, white shirt with an orange whirl on the front didn't exactly scream veteran but he could think of worse things to wear. Neon green spandex, for one. "I've been here two years."

The other boy raised his eyebrow dubiously, as if the notion of Naruto being technically his senpai was questionable. "My name's Shikamaru." He pointed his other thumb behind him. "The one eating is Chouji." Chouji smiled in a way that squinted his eyes and waved, still stuffing his face absently as he watched them.

It was then that he realized where he'd seen them before, and it hit him like a ton of bricks. These were the clan heirs Sarutobi had told him about earlier in the week. Meaning this was their first year in the academy. Maybe this year wouldn't be so boring after all.

"I'm Naruto, nice to meet you!" he grinned, all the while the adults were sure the blonde boy never noticed their gazes on him, sharp like a hawk.

* * *

That afternoon Naruto sat in one of the empty classrooms. The rowdy chatter of the class next door was muffled through the walls, and he felt some envy for his former classmates. They were genin now, and he wasn't. Left behind because he wasn't yet ready. he sat in the front drawing circles on paper, mind wandering, eyes drifting this way and that.

The chuunin assigned to watch him was off duty from border patrol. From the way he scowled at his book he didn't care much for babysitting an eight year-old but he was at least getting paid. And at the _very_ least, he mused, looking over out the corner of his eye, the _brat_ wasn't causing a ruckus. In fact, he seemed to be daydreaming.

A strange sight to be sure, considering how obnoxiously _curious_ the kid was. He was always underfoot somewhere, poking his nose in where it didn't belong, and being unusually eccentric. Frankly, nobody knew what to do with the boy. Most civilians avoided him like the plague and everyone else mostly just forgot he was around.

"Hey, you."

It took him a moment to snap out of his musings long enough to realize the boy was talking. "What is it?" He replied. Naruto was peering at him and squinting as one might scrutinize tiny letters in fine print.

"You just came back from border patrol, right?"

The chuunin stopped stroking his beard long enough to regard the boy in return. "Look kid, I'm only supposed to watch you until nine, and that's in about half an hour. I'm tired, and I smell like ass. Do we really need to talk?"

Naruto shook his head and went back to his doodling. It was always the same; no one wanted to talk to him except the Hokage, and he was busy all the time. That weird old sage Jiraiya stuck around just long enough to see how Naruto was coming along in his studies. Almost like he was interested in what he was learning. Naruto never figured out why, but he was at least thankful for the gesture.

Outside, the skies were clear as he set down his pencil and gazed out at the village. He wondered if his old classmates were meeting their sensei now, if they were learning all kinds of cool jutsu that he would probably never learn. He wondered _'What is out there?'_

"How could you possibly know I was out on patrol?"

Naruto blinked, surprised at the sudden voice. The chuunin was regarding him with curiosity.

The realization that he was "In the know" made him grin. That vulpine smile that he was sure civilians likened to a fox. "_You_ just told me." he chuckled. "Besides, chuunin always come back from border patrol after the weekend. I've been around Saru-jiji long enough to notice." he folded his arms.

Concern for how easily an academy student deduced the schedule for border duty aside, the chuunin raised a brow, impressed. "Not bad." he paused as something irked him. "You call Hokage-sama and old man?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. Not this old lecture again. "Well, he's gotta be like a hundred. He _is_ old." He waved off the man's retort with a dismissive gesture. "He doesn't mind. He said it's ending, enduring...?"

"Endearing?"

"That's it!" he cried with a wide smile and a snap of his fingers.

The chuunin sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You're a strange kid. Anyone ever tell you that?"

"All the time." Naruto said, straight faced.

Thirty minutes passed quietly, and eventually the chuunin ushered Naruto out of the room. Partly because he was tired of the kid's boisterous questioning and partly because he needed a shower. "You're going to room 3-F. They're alphanumeric up there so you should be able to find it easily, and there's only five rooms on the third floor.

The third floor was completely different from the second and lobby. In fact, the lobby was always deserted at the academy, only one service desk and a bunch of chairs. The second floor was much the same except there were two adjacent halls with three rooms, one of which was where he was, and the other was actually a second mission room from back during the second war. But the third floor was big. In fact, it seemed larger than the first floor, despite how spacious the lobby was. The rooms were very clearly marked three, with a letter beside them.

Except...

As Naruto counted the doors...

Weren't there supposed to be only five rooms? _'There's 3-A through 3-F, but...'_ he glanced out the corner of his eye, and something shifted in his peripheral vision, wobbling slightly until another door seemed to appear. That is, until he tried to look directly at it, and then it vanished. Naruto blinked, and searched with his eyes but could not find the door again. _'Must've been my imagination.'_ he supposed, not really believing it but sure enough that he couldn't prove anything yet to drop it. He entered the room marked 3-F to the sound of loud children.

* * *

Somewhere in another part of Konoha, a figure stirred from his sleep, one eye blinking open wearily in the dark. Above him, the earth rumbled and shifted, shaking loose soil from the thick roots buried here. Slowly, the other eye joined its companion and the figure rose to a sitting position. He looked around a moment, letting his senses echo through the underground and reverb back to him in a single snap of chakra. It made him a little dizzy to do so, and on more than one occasion it had gotten him into trouble, but in a village full of shinobi no one would really notice. _This_ time.

Strictly speaking, genin of Konoha weren't supposed to be down here. Being caught would be automatic imprisonment, or worse. He had no intention of blowing his cover so easily.

Deftly falling out of the nook he was in, he landed on the soft wet dirt below in a crouch. The cavern was more of a long tube dug out of earth, stretching on into the darkness; one of the old evacuation tunnels for civilians left over from the first war. It was largely forgotten and abandoned, so few even remembered where the exit was. Which, ironically was where he'd entered.

Reaching into his clothes, he pulled out a rubber casing and squeezed it in his thumb and forefinger. Immediately, the cavern came to light in a dim orange glow.

Sharp jade eyes flickered in the dark. He eventually came upon a forked stop, and, remembering the directions his master had given, chose the left path. It wound down deeper into the earth, where he began to feel the soil harden and the air grow cool and damp. Then came the smell.

He covered his nose with his sleeve, his stomach nearly heaving at the smell of the village's irrigation system. Slowly and methodically he began to count his steps, careful to mind the spacing of his gait. Walls were made of brick and mortar down here as far as he could tell; tinted with green moss and orange rust from the metal grates somewhere higher above. Disgusted beyond belief, he forced himself to feel along the wall for the hidden latch. When he found it, it gave way easily and opened up a part of the wall where a tall metal door lay.

The steel was rusted and old, as if it hadn't seen use in decades, maybe longer. Who knew how long the tunnels had actually been here. It was once said that though the Shodai built Konoha on the foundation of a forest, the Uchiha Clan had once occupied the land centuries before then. Though they had mostly forgotten about this old place as well over time. He pressed his hand on the surface of the door, pulsing his chakra against the seals lying there and listening with satisfaction as the latch gave way and the door swung open slightly.

He slipped inside quickly and closed the door behind him, only mildly surprised to find the still intact research tubes and beakers that marked this as a testing facility. The sounds of patrols up above stirred the earth, dropping trails of dust and soil onto his hood.

He unrolled the scroll in his hands, having met the conditions of his special mission. After scanning the contents, he hummed thoughtfully and burned the scroll with a small fire. Two tasks the master had sent him on, and neither would be easy. The first task would likely be very difficult but quick. The next was relatively uncomplicated as well, but the Sandaime would be keeping _very_ strict tabs on his second target.

After all, tensions between the Uchiha Clan and Sarutobi were worsening, and the Hokage would not relax his ANBU on patrols until the cold war was well over. Kabuto had enough trouble getting down here as it were, and he probably wouldn't be getting another chance. He'd nearly run straight into three patrols last night before he decided to lay low and sleep underneath them. They were probably still looking for him, and coming so close to blowing his cover because of his master's other spy had put him a little on edge.

He'd just come from an in house visit, and the crotchety old bastard was still as hard and imposing as his master said he would be. Still, he couldn't blame the man for his grousing. Implanting harvested cells into a fake arm could do that to someone. What he planned to _do_ with that arm, Kabuto didn't know but that wasn't his problem. _His_ task was to see to it that the man didn't renege on their agreement, by any means necessary.

But this was to be his last task in Konoha for several years, until Orochimaru-sama was ready to strike against it. Kabuto shook the tension out of his shoulders and turned on the light with a breath of relief when the generator hummed shortly and then fell silent as the lamp above the work desk flickered on. Light and sound couldn't escape from this room. The seals on the door and all around the room made sure of that.

He was alone.

Kabuto reached into his robe and pulled out two files, setting them on the table along with two tubes filled with a red, viscous substance. A slip of burnt paper swept by air currents out from under the door and out of sight.

* * *

Again, Naruto found himself alone at lunch. All around him kids were chattering among themselves. Shikamaru and Chouji were sitting near a short blonde girl Naruto would recognize as the daughter of Yamanaka Inoichi, a man he'd only seen once or twice, but the resemblance between father and daughter was uncanny. He'd seen enough disapproving glances directed his way to know not to go sit by them with her nearby.

Instead, Naruto drew what looked like doodles to anyone who passed by. They were none the wiser about the drawings, and Naruto preferred it stayed that way. He did his research on the so-called genius ninja of Konoha. Terrible, psychopaths or social deviants the whole lot of them. Not many survived the third war, and those that did were teetering on the edge of insanity. If Naruto knew one thing, it was that he did _not_ want to lose his mind. Especially by being labeled a genius, which he was surely not.

Genius ninja were primarily from a predominant clan or one of the founding clans. As far as he knew, the Uzumaki were _not_ a major clan of Konoha. Not now, or ever judging by the fact that no one knew anything about the name, and no one talked about them. The Hokage said they were frighteningly skilled and unimaginably wise, but if that were so, then why did no one _else_ remember them? Only Naruto was left, and what a hell of a legacy the wise and skilled Uzumaki clan had left him.

Naruto sighed and dug into the takoyaki, fiddling with a rice cake in his bento.

"Oi, psst!"

His face soured at the sound of someone whispering at him from the tree above. He knew who it was, and frankly, did _not_ feel like being embarrassed by one of the Uchiha clan's so-called 'Prodigies'. Again, the messy-haired boy in the tree hissed at him and threw something at the top of the boy's head, taking great satisfaction when the troubled blonde's shoulders shook irritably. Shisui often roused Itachi's frustration in much the same way. Getting him away from those stuffy meetings was his job as Itachi's senpai, after all.

"Whaddaya want?!" Naruto hissed back when a particularly jagged acorn Shisui threw caught him behind the ear.

Shisui grinned wolfishly above him and leaned out of the concealment of the brush. "Sasuke-chan forgot his bento." he sang happily. "His brother would have brought it, but he's having girl troubles you see, and-."

"Don't care, give it to him yourself. He's _your_ cousin and I'm not a messenger!" Naruto whispered harshly.

Strictly speaking, Shisui wasn't supposed to hang around the 'riffraff' as his clan head liked to cal them, but Naruto was different. He and Naruto were kindred spirits; their love for mischief and sass often caught the attention of everyone around them, and they loved being in the spotlight. Ultimately though, the Uchiha clan and the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi were _supposed_ to steer clear of each other after the attack eight years ago, but Shisui was hardly the kind to abandon a comrade. Especially one with such a sharp mind for making harmless trouble.

"Aww, come on little kouhai-kun!" Shisui teased playfully. "I could get in a lot 'a trouble being here." he drawled with a small smile.

Naruto's eyebrows flattened into a deadpan expression. "Then why not just go to this Sasuke kid instead of bothering me?"

Shisui mock pouted. "You wound me. Nevertheless, Sasuke-kun needs a friend his own age, and everybody else is a clan heir. He's like Itachi-kun, always brooding and quiet. People like them need people like us!"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto folded his arms on the table and sighed. "If I go over there," he began, sparing a glance at where Sasuke was sitting surrounded by kids and looking certifiably uncomfortable and awkward. "and he says something stupid, I'm gonna clock 'em one. Just saying."

The Uchiha prodigy let out a thoughtful hum, tapping his lip with his index finger. "Fair enough. And don't be jealous." he said, finally noticing Naruto's envious look. "You're just little. When we're little, we're always kinda cruel. We don't learn how to empathize until we get older. Give em time to adjust to you. Nobody's seen a_ real _Uzumaki since before the last war."

"Neither have I." Naruto countered easily.

"Point taken." Shisui felt a little uncomfortable talking about this, considering the general hatred his clan had for the Uzumaki because of their distant relationship with Senju. They were the only clan capable of completely negating their Sharingan, and they were allied with the tree hugging Senju clan to boot. No one was really sure what it took to wipe out the Uzumaki, but these days the Uchiha clan were all that was left from that time. No one could tell the story, and there was no hidden legacy for him to claim. Naruto was alone; the very last Uzumaki.

"Gimme the bento." Naruto had this _look_. Shisui had only seen it once before, when they first met a month ago. It was during one of the talks between the clan and the village, when tensions were at the highest. The boy had strode in with this carefree casualness that had baffled the elders. Shisui had been there as liaison and guard to his clan head, and Naruto had arrived to bug the Hokage, ignoring and slipping past every single ninja as if they weren't even there.

No one did that. No one at all.

Except Naruto.

Four days later, Fugaku postponed the plans for a coup until the winter season. Shisui had never been sure why such a seemingly innocent act had swayed his clan head. But one thing was clear. Uzumaki Naruto was worth keeping an eye on. And the village be damned, he'd said, they would watch him.

And when the time was right, they would use him for the coup, nine-tails and all.

* * *

And so the plot begins.


End file.
